Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Blessed is the Maker, who gives everyone their place and their part to play in the world.
Every living thing has a beginning and, one day, a gentle ending — that's part of how life is made.
When someone's time here is complete, their soul, like a swan, lifts and flies home.
This is an Alaahanee — a "Song of Mourning," sung by families at a Sikh funeral. Guru Nanak wrote these to help people hold death with love and understanding rather than only fear. This whole set is a sensitive one, handled gently for a child. Its opening truth is honest but tender: everything that lives has a beginning and, one day, an ending — and when a life here is complete, the soul is pictured as a swan that lifts and flies home (the hans, the soul-swan, a favorite Sikh image). Death is framed not as a horror but as a going-home, part of the design of a good and blessed Maker. For a child: everything that lives has a beginning and a gentle ending, and when someone's time is complete, their soul flies home like a swan.
What helps you feel calm and comforted when you think about endings?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI